The silicon/zinc oxide interface in amorphous silicon-based thin-film solar cells: Understanding an empirically optimized contact

Daniel Gerlach, R. G. Wilks, D. Wippler, Maximilian Hannes Wimmer, M. Lozac'H, Roberto Félix, A. Mück, Matthias Meier, S. Ueda, H. Yoshikawa, M. Gorgoi, K. Lips, B. Rech, M. Sumiya, J. Hüpkes, Kazuyoshi Ken Kobayashi, Marcus Bär

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Abstract

The electronic structure of the interface between the boron-doped oxygenated amorphous silicon "window layer" (a-SiOx:H(B)) and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) was investigated using hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and compared to that of the boron-doped microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H(B))/ZnO:Al interface. The corresponding valence band offsets have been determined to be (-2.87 ± 0.27) eV and (-3.37 ± 0.27) eV, respectively. A lower tunnel junction barrier height at the μc-Si:H(B)/ZnO:Al interface compared to that at the a-SiO x:H(B)/ZnO:Al interface is found and linked to the higher device performances in cells where a μc-Si:H(B) buffer between the a-Si:H p-i-n absorber stack and the ZnO:Al contact is employed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number023903
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume103
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Jul 2013
Externally publishedYes

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